


The Sweetest Sacrifice

by Perpetualstranger



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Domestic, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blackfrost - Freeform, Brief Non-Explicit Animal Violence, F/M, Sexual Content, Vampire Hunter!Natasha, tw:blood, vampire!Loki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-10
Updated: 2014-03-10
Packaged: 2018-01-15 06:05:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1294171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perpetualstranger/pseuds/Perpetualstranger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After fleeing many cities once the locals find out he's a vampire, Loki settles down in New York and lives a relatively peaceful life. Things change when SHIELD agent and skilled vampire hunter Natasha Romanov moves in next door to Loki.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sweetest Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> I know I should be updating for A Fine Frenzy, but this idea has been festering in my head and I had to write something up. I'm not sure how many other vampire AU Blackfrost fics are floating around out there (bound to be some), but I thought I'd give it a try.
> 
> *Brief, non-explicit animal violence- while any form of animal violence makes me cringe, this is necessary to the story. Without giving too much away, Loki feasts on animals instead of humans so he doesn't get caught. But I tried to make it as harmless as possible, having Loki be gentle (even sedating the animal so it doesn't feel any pain). So there's no violence per se, but the fact still stands that Loki is sinking his teeth into an animal and drinking its blood, so I should warn you.
> 
> Blood- obviously there is going to be blood and mentions of it in a vampire fic.

The sounds of a large dog barking and howling through the night coursed through the otherwise quiet street. The owners left the dog chained to the linked fence that surrounded the apartment complex. It was the third night there and the animal must've began whimpering from hunger. An ambulance rushed through the cobblestone street, rushing over a puddle of rain water and splashing the sidewalk where Loki stood. With careful glances shot from left to right, analyzing his surroundings, he closed in on his next meal. This being the fifth town he had fled to once the locals became aware of his true nature, Loki decided to feast sparingly, and on humans as a last resort. He made due with stray animals much like the chocolate lab bound helplessly to the fence he was making himself busy with untying. Loki watched with wide eyes as the dog immediately began sniffing for food on the sidewalk, hesitantly nibbling on the first thing it found.

"As much as I empathize with you my fellow creature," Loki moved to sit on his haunches and pet the dog's head between its ears. "Hunger overrules any means of sentiment." His eyes zoned out as he absently watched the dog chow down on a chicken bone chucked on the sidewalk with a few pathetic shreds of meat still residing. "Come now." Loki stood, towering over the animal and tugging gently on its leash. "You shan't be tortured much longer." The dog's ears raised curiously, head tilting slightly and eyes staring at the man expectantly. A frown settled on Loki's face and he quickly turned away from the endearing display the dog had put on. His eyes flickered to see old Mrs. Brinkley from across the street scowling at him before quickly closing her floral curtains. The pair quietly padded their way back to Loki's flat, Loki turned and placing a finger over his lips when the dog let out an unexpected yip. He looked from the dog to the street again, watching a plastic bag being tossed about in the wind, and behind him was another series of apartments which had no lights on. Loki exhaled deeply before turning his key cautiously and opening the front door. The squeak could not be heard over the hustle and bustle of the city during the day, but the sound was very much enhanced by the quietness of night. Loki winced internally at the unexpected noise, but his eyes flew open when he watched the leash be ripped away from his grip as the dog jumped on the couch.

"Down." Loki snapped his fingers and pointed to the floor, not removing his eyes from the dog as he closed the door behind him. When the dog merely nuzzled himself deeper into the tattered cushions, Loki rolled his eyes and sighed before making his way to the medicine cabinet. He looked at his reflection for a moment- Skin pale and gaunt, thin lips pulled tight into a self loathing frown, black hair chopped unevenly from when he was forced to change his appearance, and piercing golden-green irises looking upon himself calculatingly, as if he didn't trust himself. Loki sighed before swinging the door of the cabinet open and retrieving a syringe. He regulated his breathing and blinked a couple times as he flicked the needle and a few drops of the sedative spurted out and rolled down the sink and into the drain. When Loki reentered the living room, he found the dog jumping off the couch and trotting towards him in an excited manner, nubby tail wagging rhythmically. He hoisted the dog in one arm to set it on the countertop in Loki's otherwise unused kitchen. The dog opened his mouth in what was the closest thing to a smile as it's tongue bounced with each pant.

"So eager to accept your fate?" Loki conversed with the animal shifting excitedly in its spot before him. His eyes roved over the somewhat sickly state of the dog, how its rib cage protruded and blotches of fur were balding. "Is it because other animals do not fear death, or aren't aware of its undeniable and ever-lingering presence?" His eyes unfocused and the dog became a blur of brown fur and yellow teeth as he mulled over what he just said. "I know I am." Loki uttered distantly, pale lips opened but hardly moving before his train of thought was interrupted by the buzzing sound of a flea. A quick hand reached up and squished the bug between two fingers, simply wiping the residue on his trousers. This act of exterminating the fly only added to the truthfulness of his previous statement, how death seems to permeate throughout life. "The only thing simple about life is the concept of taking it." Loki told the dog in a somewhat conversational tone as he scratched the back of its ear, only getting a soft whimper in return as the needle pierced the dog's neck.

After a few moments, the dog collapsed onto the counter with a soft thud and Loki already shivered at the prospect of feasting after such a long duration of time. With slender, shaky fingers, he removed the clasp of the collar around its neck but couldn't stop his curiosity as he looked at the name tag of the dog- Sweetie Pie. "How fitting." Loki commented before tossing the collar in the nearby trash receptacle. Despite his body shuddering in anticipation and hunger, Loki found himself hesitating to sink his teeth into the dog. He shook his head and erased the thought for a moment, fangs piercing the furry flesh and sucking away at its blood. Loki's mind wandered as he felt the animal's pulse die out under the palm of his hand to something he read in a history book. As being an immortal, Loki read such things in his free time to see how manipulated and untruthful the supposed facts of humanity could be. KGB operatives during the Cold War were ordered to have a chicken for a pet. They were tasked with naming and caring for the animal. After a month or so, once they formed a psychological attachment to their pet, the operatives were then ordered to shoot them at point blank range. The book stressed the importance of naming something in correlation to one's ability to become attached to that something. Loki knew from personal experience that it always hurt more to know his victim's names.

Loki slowly withdrew from the animal and wiped his lips of its fur that got in his mouth. One of the many benefits to feasting on humans rather than other animals is that one doesn't get their hair in your mouth, and more importantly, human blood is far sweeter. But the prospect of living a normal life was a sweet sacrifice Loki was willing to make in recompense for not feasting on humans. He grabbed a trash bag from one of the kitchen cabinets and placed the corpse inside. He threw old newspapers and coupons received in the mail on top to conceal the body before tying the strings multiple times for good measure. While making his way to the curb of the street where he placed the trash bag with all the others, he watched as a moving truck stopped right in front of him. His heart stuttered and chest froze as he watched a young woman get out of a black corvette and watch the movers carry her belongings in the building right next to Loki's place. She had an intoxicating sense of confidence to her, moving with grace in ways most humans lacked at the early hours of the morning he observed. Loki turned away, looking down at the trash bag still in hand before someone's finger poking his shoulder startled him awake.

"Sorry to interrupt you." The young woman he was gazing at earlier was now standing before him. Her fresh scent immediately hit his nose, a beautiful contrast to the constant reeking stench of death and blood that he was used to. "I was just wondering if when you're done taking out your trash you could help me with some of my stuff." She gave him a small smile, as if not sure her joke was taken well or not. "Yes- yes, of course." He dropped the bag promptly and kicked it before looking back at the woman. His eyes trailed down from her face to her neck, finding himself lost in the calming image of her chest rising and falling evenly with each breath. His mind flashed an image to the dog's tail wagging at a similar beat and Loki immediately stiffened at the thought.

"Are you okay sir?" Loki didn't realize her hand was on his shoulder, the first thing he saw was her bright, blue eyes flitting about his face as she sized up his current state of uneasiness. His head slowly cocked to the side so he could look upon the woman's hand draped against his shoulder. He could practically see the colorful veins through her milky skin, eyes following the trail of a particular one until it faded away. "I'm fine, just still trying to wake myself up." Loki commented casually despite it being a blatant lie, watching the woman visibly relax before him. "And please, call me Loki." He gave her a wide smile, eyes crinkling from the action. Loki made sure to retract his fangs before doing so, watching as her full lips curled into another smile that faltered when one of the movers tapped her shoulder and she turned away. Loki watched patiently as she signed some papers and nodded to the worker before waving for him to follow her. She picked up a nightstand and he grabbed the other, carefully walking up the steps and through her front door. After a few more trips she was completely moved in, the woman not owning much furniture or personal belongings.

"Would you like a drink before you go?" The woman opened her fridge and gestured to the few choices that resided inside. Loki was dead set on slipping away quietly after helping the woman move in, finding it hard to control himself especially around her. It scared him how he already felt himself drawn to her even after feasting moments ago. When she called out to him, Loki stiffened in surprise before slowly turning to face her. She stood bathed in the fluorescent lights of her new kitchen, clutching a dish rag she pulled from a cardboard box labeled 'KITCHEN' and dabbing the beads of sweat that rolled down the side of her slender neck. When he saw this, Loki's mind flickered to an image of him pinning her against the wall, one hand holding her neck and the other fisted in the woman's fiery locks of hair. He imagined his lips enclosing around the soft spot of her throat and sucking on her supple flesh before sinking his teeth- No. What Loki did want was her name, perhaps to form a psychological attachment as a KGB operative forms with their chicken, or maybe because he wanted a name to shout when he dreamt of the women that would surely plague his fantasies.

"Natasha."

**Author's Note:**

> Any feedback for this would be widely appreciated, especially when I feel a little iffy about continuing this fic. I have more ideas for the story though- and hope to come up with a less lame title for it. Thanks to all who stop by!


End file.
